There’s that old adage about dogs chasing cars, not knowing what they’d do if they caught one. Well, a rat in Assam state, India knew exactly what it wanted to do when it broke into an ATM earlier this month, and that was feasting on money until it died.
According to Reuters, State Bank of India officials say that the rat somehow managed to evade the ATM’s security cameras while sneaking inside, then consumed or destroyed $17,662's worth of rupees out of its total holdings of $42,685. Then it tragically left this world, with technicians only finding its mortal remains amid a pile of shredded banknotes:
“The ATM was out of order for a few days and when our technicians opened the kiosk we were shocked to find shredded notes and a dead rat,” said Chandan Sharma, SBI branch manager in the town of Tinsukia in the northeastern state of Assam.
“We have started an investigation into this rare incident and will take measures to prevent a recurrence.”
Footage shows that the rat in question is pretty tiny, which only underscores its apparent commitment (or ravenous hunger) while trapped in its awful fiat money prison.
Reuters added that according to Sharma, “an inspection of the camera footage at the ATM in Tinsukia turned up no rat entering it.” According to the Hindustan Times, police say it acted without any human accomplices:
The police have ruled out any foul play even though the bank officials did not get a wind of it for more than 12 days after the ATM was shut down following technical failure.
“We have not found the involvement of any bank official or any outsider,” the police official said.
In 2015, a rat that dragged an entire slice of pizza across a New York subway platform won internet users’ hearts. This rat has not received anywhere near as much recognition, though it is relatively safe to say that it’s not through lack of effort.
Cash-stuffed rat is dead. Long live cash-stuffed rat.
[Reuters]